Bjørn Berge – 27-02-2019

After the release of his album “Who Else” we got the chance to ask the Bjørn Berge some questions, see what replied.

What can you tell me about the process of creating “Who Else?”

I started working on this album right before I got asked to join Vamp(norwegian folk/rock band) in 2014-15. My first idea was to make an acoustic album with drums and bass etc. But after a while I got more and more into playing electric guitar again and that also influented my song writing.

How do you generally work? Do you have songs finished before recording or do you create while recording?

I always write the songs before I book the studio and also most of the arr of the songs. But when you start recording and you really can hear what’s going on, songs can change a little. I like that.

How would you describe your sound?

Lots of guitars(love it), bluesy rock ‘n’ roll with a hint of country and soul.

When listening to the album the song “Mr Bones” jumped out. Can you tell where that song comes from?

It was a riff I had in my head for a long time. I write different if I use electric guitar,acoustic guitar, banjo or what ever. This song works on both electric and acoustic guitar. I played the song for my lyrics writer, he loved it and came up with words about this Mr. Bones character.

“Bitter Sweet” has a bit of a different vibe, what can you tell us about that song?

I just felt that the album needed a quiet song, but not a standard blues ballade. So I just started to mess around with different chords. I had the lyrics in front of me and just tried to come up with a melody that could suit the words. It took a while, but suddenly; there it was.

If you look at the songs of “Who Else?” which of these evolved most through the creation process and can you tell us how that happened?

That would be Bitter Sweet. At first it had a simpler groove and vibe. The song started to grow on me after a while. My co producer, Kjetil Ulland suggested to speed the song down and to add a vocal line in the intro etc.. Those simple things made the song as it is now. Very happy with it.

So what is there in the future for you? What are your plans?

Do as many concerts as possible, both solo and trio, stay healthy and see what happens:)